New developments in the field of bioengineering are happening rapidly - and while doing my weekly scan of updates I came across this innovation yesterday. Prof. Magdi Yacoub, a professor of cardiac surgery at Imperial College London and working with the Harefield Heart Science Centre, has talked about their latest research work – that has grown 3 centimeter wide valves by exposing stem cells to chemicals, which spurred their differentiation into heart valve cells. The tissue was grown on a scaffold of collagen.
He said that artificial valves are already widely used, but an organic replacement has advantages, because it can adjust its shape and size in response to changes in the circulatory system, unlike an artificial valve, "which will just open and shut." In addition, a stem cell cardiac valve is less likely to be rejected. A report on the work is expected to be published in August in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. I will keep a track of it.
Similar work is happening in other places, including at University of Michigan Medical School. The journal Regenerative Medicine says we're drawing steadily closer to "bioengineering" entire areas of the heart, as well as heart valves and major blood vessels. Release
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